Ballet Technique Lessons

Grande battements are an essential step in ballet technique that form a base for more advanced steps including grande allegro.  Ballet students will typically learn how to do a grande battement in a beginner level ballet class.  Learn how to properly do a grande battement with our tutorial below. How to do a Grande Battement…

Before we begin, here’s how to read this article: This is not meant to be easy or entertaining reading. Because the subject is complex, intricate and multi-layered, this article is technical and tries to cover all the basics and all the details. If you have never thought of tendu as anything other than stretching your…

Turnout is an essential part of classical ballet technique and like many other aspects of technique is worked on every day!  You may say it is one of the more difficult qualities to master, considering how unnatural it is to the human body.  However, with proper training, care, and repetition, you can be on your…

Have you been wondering how to get splits for ballet?  Or maybe how to become more flexible for ballet class?  Check out our video that shows you how to safely get your splits with easy stretches that you can do after class or at home!  This stretching method is very easy and basic, but provides…

Stretch If you’re trying to improve your penché, the first thing you will want to do is look at your flexibility. To achieve a 180 degree penché (where your arabesque leg is pointing absolutely straight to the ceiling), you have to be able to sit in a split and then some. If your split is…

Ballet dancers use their feet to make positions, jump, turn, and do just about every step in classical ballet. They are also a key to having great, balletic lines. No matter a dancer’s natural foot flexibility, it is important for all dancers to do exercises to increase the strength in their arch, toes and ankles….

Here are some great tips for improving pirouettes. Take a look at each one and try to apply these corrections the next time you’re doing a pirouette combination in ballet class. These tips assume you already have a general understanding of how to do a en dehors pirouette in retiré.  These pirouette tips aren’t just…

Grand Battement en Rond is a ballet step commonly done at barre with rond de jambe exercises.  Today we’ll take a detailed look at doing this step properly from start to finish.  Grand Battement en Rond can be done both en dehors or en dedans.  For this lesson, we’ll be showing you en dehors, but…

Arabesque is a very common position in classical ballet and can look very impressive from the view of an audience member.  However, its important that a dancer not cheat an arabesque line by trying to open it to the side in an effort to get their leg higher.  Stay classical and clean by remembering to…

In classical ballet, there are five basic positions of both the feet and arms.  First, we’ll take a look at the five basic ballet positions of the feet.  The five basic positions are usually one of the first things taught in a beginner’s ballet class but are essential to the technique of classical ballet as…